Canadian by birth, Southern (Ontario) by the Grace of God.- yeah it's a Lynyrd Skynyrd reference

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Sunflowers

This past week, Space had the episode "Vincent and the Doctor". It deals with an encounter the Doctor and Amy had with the great Post Impressionist painter Vincent Van Gogh. It's a great episode and if you haven't seen it, why did you miss it. It features an alien, of course, but more then a Doctor vs a Monster, it gives some truth worth considering. As well, it has a lot of Van Gogh's paintings. Plus a cameo by Bill Nighy, what more do you want? The final scene was Amy looking at Vincent' famous still life of sunflowers and she sees it has been dedicated to her.

Although in the episode, Van Gogh wasn't impressed with the Sunflower, feeling it was far too complex, he certainly caught on if his artwork proves anything:

My purpose for this blog is not to discuss Doctor Who, that's coming up when this season is over, but I thought I'd write about sunflowers. It's one of those plants I enjoy growing in the gardens. It's impressive when you plant a little seed in the ground and given enough time, water and soil it becomes this massive plant that stands over 2 metres tall.

I've had a few growing in all my gardens, after all, it has to be the kings of the garden, simply by its size and impressive yellow colouration. It's bright yellow flower so speaks of summer, and the fact it follows the sun makes it the perfect plant for the season.

This year, I've decided to be different. Instead of the classic yellow, I've gone for the Prado Red Sunflower.

So far they have been growing well:

As you read its a fast growing plant, and today I noticed that they may be close to blooming.

Saturday, June 26, 2010

The Garden: 26 days later

I was going over some past blogs and I came across the one from the end of May. I was taken aback by how much the garden had changed in a matter of 26 days, almost 4 weeks. I decided to take a new photograph of the same patch from what I hope was the same angle:

As you can see, the zucchini is now in full bloom, in fact a number of blossoms are making their presence known

Even the tomatoes and eggplants are starting to blossom:

This is truly the fun part of gardening, when all the hard work of turning over the soil, adding more compost and topsoil, weeding and watering brings about this. It is amazing when you think about it, a little seed, a bit of dirt and water, or should I say soil, bring about this tremendous growth. Alright, I will admit, i bought seedlings for the eggplants and tomatoes, still I guess the environment must be good enough to bring about this growth.

Jesus said:

Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.

This is how it all happens, a seed, a seedling, goes into the ground and the wonder happens.

Thomas Jefferson wrote this about gardening:

Those who labour in the earth are the chosen people of God, if ever he had a chosen people, whose breasts he has made his peculiar deposit for substantial and genuine virtue. It is the focus in which he keeps alive that sacred fire, which otherwise might escape from the face of the earth.

Feel like being a chosen one? Invest in some seeds and a few garden implements.

Friday, June 25, 2010

Bill C-32 and Radical Extremists

I'd say that of the world's economies, there's more that believe in intellectual property today than ever. There are fewer communists in the world today than there were. There are some new modern-day sort of communists who want to get rid of the incentive for musicians and moviemakers and software makers under various guises. They don't think that those incentives should exist. Bill Gates-2005The only people who are opposed to this legislation are really two groups of radical extremists...There are those that pretend to be for copyright reform, but they don't believe in actual copyright reform. There are those that are cited as experts by the media endlessly who are not in favour of copyright reform.Heritage Minister James Moore-2010

So there you have it, from a Communist, and all that line did was inspire a design and a lot of t-shirts to now being extremists and to be a poseur. I believe, as many do, the Heritage Minister is taking a shot of Professor Michael Geist, the expert on copyright and privacy on the Internet both in Canada and around the globe.

Far from 'selling' the merits of the bill by its merits, the Heritage Minister seems to want to demonize all those who oppose his bill, or at least who make issue with some of the weak spots of the law.

In a must read article, the CBC points out the debate has now turned ugly. It's not those commonists who are making it ugly, but the minister himself. It seems he is not interested in debating the merits of his bill, but to declare all who question and oppose it to be worst then communists, they are extremists, akin to those anarchists who will soon be charging the fences in Toronto. He wants to say that the critics simply hate copyright and wouldn't agree with the bill at all. He makes the point this is the third time for this legislation. Perhaps instead of ripping into the critics he should understand why so many people opposed the other two times.

To call those who draw comments and criticisms of the bill to be those who don't want copyright, or don't get it, well, last time I checked we do live in a democracy and one of the marks of a democracy is the presentation of opposing viewpoints. If a person is simply going to respond to criticism by name calling, that tells us the person is defending a very weak point.

The issue of the bill is simple, on one hand, it protects the rights of fair use, you own the disc, you can make as many copies of the content as you want, so long as it is for private use. It makes possible to post videos on YouTube that contain copyrighted material.

The bone of contention is the fact the bill makes it a crime to possess and use software that could crack any protective lock that may be found on the content. So if you want to practice your right to fair use but the content provider puts a lock, you are out of luck. As many have pointed out, technology trumps rights.

Let's be clear of something, the locks put on CD's, DVD's and Blu-Ray discs don't work. You come up with the code one day, the next somebody in Norway, Finland or some former member nation of the Eastern Bloc will crack it and will post the code the very next day, it will be in the hands of everybody the following day.

As well, all those ripped CD's and DVD's are available through various bit torrents the day after anyways, who needs to crack anything when it's already been done. If this bill and the proponents think it will stop the sharing of content, they are delusional and very sadly mistaken. It does nothing and will do nothing.

So the Heritage Minister is showing that he's not so much tech savvy but rather another lapdog of Big Media. One commentator wrote this:

I @'d him (just once) on Twitter to complain about the C-32 digital locks criminalising kids transferring (legally owned) DVD's to iPods etc. He DM'd me with one word - "ridiculous" - and then blocked me.

He likes to model himself as tech savvy - which to him means tweeting about the latest Apple product he's acquired - but it's bizarre how he's really screwed up his social media usage. Stephen Harper has a reputation for keeping his ministers on a tight leash - I'm sure he's not happy with the way James Moore is handling this situation right now.

I will disagree, James Moore is listening to his master's voice and the voice is that of Big Media.

Thursday, June 24, 2010

On Guerrilla Gardening: A Review

The book "On Guerrilla Gardening" is subtitled 'A Handbook for Gardening without Boundaries'. The author, Richard Reynolds has been called the founder of the Guerrilla Gardening movement. While he admits being flattered with the title, he rejects the notion he is the founder. Nonetheless he may one of the more internationally known GG's, what with this book and his website GuerrillaGardening.Org.

Before I begin with the review, I should tell the story on how I got the book. You're now thinking, 'you went to a bookstore and purchased it, wow exciting story'. Partially correct. I went to the Indigo bookstore in Burlington Ontario, just down the street from the MEC store. The family went down to check things out and we ended up in the Indigo store, I had bought a new bookbag at MEC, by the way. I decided to do a search for the book on the computer but didn't find much, I believe I spelled the name wrong. One of the staff approached me and ask what I wanted, I gave the title and commented my inability to find it. I left, she went back to her work. A few minutes she returned with a copy of the book, it was in the bargain part of the store. It was priced for only $5.99 and after she had made the effort to look I bought it. So let me give strong words of support to Indigo and in particular the Burlington Ontario store, 1250 Brant Street. So cheers to the staff.

What about the book, it begins with what should be is the motto and manifesto of the organization, "Fighting Filth with Forks and Flowers". Mr. Reynolds gives some history, considering the history of the guerrilla movement in the political world, he quotes from such famous guerrilla, which is the Spanish for 'little war'. He quotes from Che Guevara and Mao Zedong. He uses them since they do describe what can be considered the operational manual for guerrilla gardens. While they are important, he considers Gerrard Winstanley, a Christian radical who lived during the time of the English Civil War as thee spiritual and philosophical father to the movement. He encouraged people to farm on land and not to worry about ownership, since he didn't believe in private ownership of property. While at the same time, Reynolds admits Winstanley spent too much time writing about gardening, rather then gardening and annoying potential allies. In other words he made a bit too many enemies, when some of them could have been friends to himself and the movement.

The whole idea behind Guerrilla Gardening is to plant flowers and food on land that is barren and under utilized. He gives his own experience, he moved into a large apartment and noticed the front 'garden' was anything but a garden. He began to clean it up and planted flowers. All this without the permission of the owners of the apartment. This is one of the chief ideas of guerrilla gardening, you find some soil, clean it up and plant something, it can be flowers which does enhance the area and the surrounding area. You might note that the wikipedia notes seem to indicate the political philosophy of the Guerrilla Gardening, this is the not the point of the book, this is not a manifesto, it is a handbook. While he discusses the political use of gardening, to him its all about turning unused and under used land into something pleasant to look at and helps the community.

He spends a fair bit of time considering the work of the Green Guerrillas of New York City; they commenced their work to beautify the New York City starting in the 70's. This was when, to use Reynolds own words, the Big Apple was rotten, there was a lot of empty space and park land that was abandoned. To this group they simply went through what fence existed, if such a thing existed and began to plan gardens. It meant cleaning up the land, putting new soil and planting the seeds. They succeeded because there was really no clear claim on the property and the City didn't have the resources to deal with them. In fact their work has been recognized and honoured by the city. Of course, during the time of Mayor Rudy Giuliani, they were considered communists.

The book is part history, part interview and part handbook for becoming a guerrilla gardener. To Reynolds it is a simple as a few seeds and a few gardening tools. It is that simple and while it may be considered illegal, because you are 'trespassing', you are doing all this to improve the environment. He interviewed a lot of people from all over the globe to hear their stories, including some funny one. He warns of potential problems, from dealing with stuffy municipal bureaucrats who believe that it should be illegal for people to have fun, especially in the public realm. Other problems may be theft, people not understanding, and the occasional drunk. For the latter he suggests get them involved, one person was involved and worked very hard for an hour of so, and all he asked was money for a can of beer. Reynolds suggests such people because they work, will take ownership of the property and protect it.

While not political, he does talk about some political actions that has taken place, in parts of the world such as Mexico, Brazil and Guantanamo Bay. In the first two, landless farm workers have risen up to take over underused land to feed their families. Of course for them, the government fought back, defending the rights of the landowners rather then the people. There has been defeats and victories. For the last place, the detainees have taken upon themselves to work the land and plant seeds that have come from their food. They have grown successful gardens, even though they have received no help at all from the US government.

The book is filled with ideas to start your own gardening action from what to wear, what to use to what to plant. It is filled with some very good ideas.

It's also about becoming a part of the soil and the environment. It's learning how to plant a sunflower seed and watching the riot of colour that will come about in a couple of months. In our urban world, we might think that soil is dirt and it is an annoyance rather then soil that will sustain our world and our place in it. It is connecting ourselves with nature in the middle of our urban environment.

It is an entertaining read, one reviewer describes it a manual, a manifesto and a coffee table book, there are some delightful photographs of the effort of GG's around the world.

If you're not sure you want to read the book, may I suggest you visit his website. There you will read what is happening with the GG movement, plus there are a lot of great photographs and videos. Well worth the time, plus he will suggest you buy his book.

I want to join him and suggest you buy the book, or find the book at your local library.

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Whither Red Tangerine

I re-discovered the delight of Fanta a few years ago, thank you Dollar Stores. In fact I became a connoisseur of their wonderful Red Tangerine drink. It had everything a person wants in a pop, sparkly and a combination of tart and sweetness. I came to the conclusion that this might be my second favourite flavour of pop, after venerable Coca-Cola, of course.

Lately, I've been searching for Red Tangerine at my favourite store and noticed it wasn't available. I thought, its a temporary aberration, one of those in between the dropping of the next supply. Yes that had to be it. After all, the weather was warm and what better way to quench a thirst then with Red Tangerine Fanta. I went to another store, and noticed no Red Tangerine. At least the second store had some Fanta products, but nothing on what I wanted.

Now I'm getting suspicious. What has happened to Red Tangerine? I mean here's a flavour the gained some fair press. One reviewer did wax poetic about the beauty of the pop.

Another visit to another store revealed ths same fact, Red Tangerine has disappeared.

I went to the website and wrote a letter. Here is the response:

As you may know, The Coca-Cola Company offers a portfolio of more than 500 brands and 3,300 beverage products in more than 200 countries. Taste and preferences vary around the world. For this reason, some Coca-Cola brand products are only available in certain countries or areas. However, please be assured that your comments have been shared with the appropriate management within the Company.

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

National Pollinators Week

I missed International Composting Week so when I heard about this week, I promised myself I do a quick blog. It's my way of drawing attention to some important things. Unfortunately I don't think the local Hallmark's store has the cards quite yet. Shame really because this is one of those holidays we need to be reminded of and to take part in some way.

This week, our thoughts are centred upon the pollinators, those insects, birds and animals that help spread the pollen around and make our plants and vegetables grow to be lush and fruitful, to say nothing of our fruits. Perhaps the best known of the pollinators is the honey bee. Truly one of natures amazing workers. Their tireless work help spread the pollen and make so much of our food to grow and thrive.

Lately, we have been aware of problems with honey bees. In fact there are many instances of colonies being wiped out. The phenomenon is referred to as Colony Collapse Disorder and it is nasty. There are a number of reasons; Genetically Modified Food, electromagnetic interference from power lines and cellular phone towers, to name just a few. Another suggestion is that the bees are suffering from a virus which was transmitted from Australian bees. Others suggestion it has to do with the pesticides used by farmers and others. What ever the reason it is serious and one that we must consider and come up with a solution. An article in the Guardian states that instead of studying the issue, it is now time to solve it and the method suggested is to grow more gardens that are honey bee friendly.

One website declared this week to be a salute to bees. They encouraged all to get involved with the Great Sunflower Project, since sunflowers are one of those flowers honey bees like and the more honey bees you have the better it is for your garden. So plant those sunflowers if you haven't done so already. I've planted some Prado Red this year, just to be a bit different.

So this week, do something nice to our bees. Think about growing and planting some flowers that will attract them and keep them around. They do so much for us, they now need our help. It's only fair.

We might think this is the official start to patio season, when we all sit outside and enjoy the warm weather. This is because we are Canadians and that means winter is always just around the corner, so we need to sit outside and enjoy it.

More, its the time to consider the joy of the t shirt. It's fortunes have risen and fallen over the time. Some might consider its apex was when Marlon Brando was seen wearing it, without a shirt in the movie "A Streetcar named Desire".

This brought the t from underwear to outerwear and so it became the garment of choice for the cool kids, the hipsters and the non-conformists. It was also what the tough guys wore, tearing out the sleeves if needed to show off the muscle.

It's interesting today you can enter the contest and win a year's supply of t shirts. Which would be very special and certainly would be a great gift to win.

As outwear it's obvious the big blank space on the front would eventually find its way into the thoughts of message makers and advertisers. You can get your favourite sportswear on the front of your body, to a political message. Now of course, this being the age of the Internet, you can wear your geek message on the front of your body. In fact most web based sites do offer t shirts for you to show off their message or their website. After all, why not?

On this first day of summer, put on the t and celebrate the season. This is the day to wear the t and to wear it proudly. Of course, those who know me are asking themselves the question, 'how does this day differ then any other?' Okay, it's my garment of choice.

Tuesday, June 08, 2010

It Does Begin

I wondered yesterday if it was going to happen. Then the reports in the paper declared that if the City voted to go ahead with the demolition it would be slated for Tuesday. Well, the City passed and the demolition has commenced:

Photographs taken by others show the equipment making its way through the city to the south side of Colborne Street.

There`s not much more to be added to this is there. The building are coming down. A number of people are happy, a number are sad and angry.

Monday, June 07, 2010

Is it all Over?

The headlines in various papers say the same thing, on Tuesday the order for the demolition of the South Side of Colborne Street will be given and the 41 buildings that have been at the centre of a great deal of controversy will soon be no more.

We lost, and two councillors previously in support of preserving the buildings switched their votes to demolition. But I want to say how proud I am to have met you all , to have fought this fight with such people. Your deputations were persuasive and I cried during Leis's impassioned pleas. Too bad nobody was listening.

The vote went 8-3, it seems a couple of counsellors voted for the demolition because further delay was hurting the downtown core, the businesses that were there had problems because of the delay.

So today, with the aid of my trusty camera, I went for a walk and took some photographs:

Some of these building date back to the middle of the 19th century. One wonders if people who were there at the beginning when the decay started to set in had contacted groups to support restoration if the downtown of Brantford could have been saved. I know there are many who suggest that it was not likely, with the growth of the car culture, people looked to the outskirts, with the malls and more recently the big box stores as the place to shop. Downtowns were viewed as passé, only fit for the druggies and others who belong to the lower end of the Social Economic Scale.

Now the news is stating that the Y will be coming to occupy some of the land that will soon be vacant.

Thursday, June 03, 2010

Bill C-32, Epic Fail

Yesterday, the government of Canada tabled Bill C-32, also called the Copyright Modernization Act. The government has referred to this bill as an attempt to modernize Canada's copyright rules. They feel the rules need to be changed since we are now living in the digital age.

This bill does two things, if we are to believe what is being reported, it protects the rights of consumers to produce and own a back up copy of all digital entertainment they own. In other words, you can rip music and movies from the disc to your hard drive. You can also take this copy and set it to your favourite mp3 player, if this is what you want to do. So, fair use is now enshrined by the law of the land.

The bill states:

29.22 (1) It is not an infringement of copyright for an individual to reproduce a work or other subject-matter or any substantial part of a work or other subject-matter if

(a) the copy of the work or other subject-matter from which the reproduction is made is not an infringing copy;

(b) the individual legally obtained the copy of the work or other subject-matter from which the reproduction is made, other than by borrowing it or renting it, and owns or is authorized to use the medium or device on which it is reproduced;

(c) the individual, in order to make the reproduction, did not circumvent, as defined in section 41, a technological protection measure, as defined in that section, or cause one to be circumvented;

(d) the individual does not give the reproduction away; and

(e) the reproduction is used only for private purposes.

You want to put it on your computer, make a copy, put it on your hard drive and enjoy listening to it as you work. This is wonderful and is a great idea. Fair use should be enshrined in law to protect people from the messy and ridiculous law suits from Big Media.

But remember, this act is from the government and is probably a gift to Big Media. For in the same act, there is this:

41.1 (1) No person shall

(a) circumvent a technological protection measure within the meaning of paragraph (a) of the definition “technological protection measure” in section 41;

(b) offer services to the public or provide services if

(i) the services are offered or provided primarily for the purposes of circumventing a technological protection measure,

(ii) the uses or purposes of those services are not commercially significant other than when they are offered or provided for the purposes of circumventing a technological protection measure, or

(iii) the person markets those services as being for the purposes of circumventing a technological protection measure or acts in concert with another person in order to market those services as being for those purposes; or

(c) manufacture, import, distribute, offer for sale or rental or provide — including by selling or renting — any technology, device or component if

(i) the technology, device or component is designed or produced primarily for the purposes of circumventing a technological protection measure,

(ii) the uses or purposes of the technology, device or component are not commercially significant other than when it is used for the purposes of circumventing a technolog- ical protection measure, or

(iii) the person markets the technology, device or component as being for the purposes of circumventing a technological protection measure or acts in concert with another person in order to market the technology, device or component as being for those purposes.

In other words, if the copyright holder has slapped on some sort of protection, you can't circumvent it. So your rights to make a copy can be stymied by this part of the bill. It's like the government making a law in which the speed limit is 120kph and then allowing the automobile manufacturer to put a governor on all cars so they can't go faster then 60kph and making it illegal to take the governor off. In other words, your rights are now short changed by the digital protection that a copyright holder decides to put on the disc.

What a great idea, give people rights, and a lot of actions are protected, but then turn around and allow companies to slap on the encryption tools and threatening legal actions if you crack it.

Also, ISP's:

41.25 (1) An owner of the copyright in a work or other subject-matter may send a notice of claimed infringement to a person who provides

(a) the means, in the course of providing services related to the operation of the Internet or another digital network, of telecommunication through which the electronic location that is the subject of the claim of infringement is connected to the Internet or another digital network;

(b) for the purpose set out in subsection 31.1(5), the digital memory that is used for the electronic location to which the claim of infringement relates; or

(c) an information location tool as defined in subsection 41.27(5).

Other interesting parts are the fact that copyright can be extended for 50 years:

23. (1) Subject to this Act, copyright in a performer’s performance subsists until the end of 50 years after the end of the calendar year in which the performance occurs. However,

(a) if the performance is fixed in a sound recording before the copyright expires, the copyright continues until the end of 50 years after the end of the calendar year in which the first fixation of the performance in a sound recording occurs; and

(b) if a sound recording in which the performance is fixed is published before the copyright expires, the copyright continues until the earlier of the end of 50 years after the end of the calendar year in which the first publication of the sound recording occurs and the end of 99 years after the end of the calendar year in which the performance occurs.

Why do I call this a fail?

It seems the bill thinks the only way a person gets their media is to buy, or rent or take it out of the library and then rip it for themselves. They take it and sell it to others. Listen, this is not how it happens. Most people get their media over the Internet. They go to their favourite torrent client and look for the music or movie. When you find it, click it and wait a few minutes or a couple of hours. Go back to your computer and you will find the music or movies or television shows. It's on your computer and you can watch on your high def monitor or burn it to a cd or dvd to watch over your home theatre system.

Does it stop piracy? Not at all. It ensures that more people will get involved then before. Stop me from making a back up, you shall pay.

Wednesday, June 02, 2010

Quit Facebook Day. Who Won? Who Lost?

So the day to quit Facebook has come and gone. From reports, some 31,000 people stated they have had enough with, as PCWorld described it, the cavalier attitude Facebook has taken with privacy. In fact, PCWorld lauds those who took up the challenge and deleted their account. I know they didn't do it right away, it takes a week for that to happen. Still, 30-31,000 people said they had enough of it all and have left. I posted the video of Leo Laporte quitting, since as one of the early adopters and as the head TWIT, he has a very strong following amongst the Tech Community. Before I go too far on that tack, I should remind you he at one time quit Twitter, but now is back. Although I believe it had more to do with the name rather then any problems he may have had with the service.

The "Quit Facebook" did garner a fair bit of publicity and interest. Most did wonder what the big deal was all about, and in some regards those who wondered have a point. For those who were going on about privacy a question had to be, but Facebook is all about sharing, not keeping. It's about posting, not privacy. Of course, the real issue is not about sharing, but rather what permission do we give Facebook with our information.

This leads me to the title of the Blog, who won, who lost. My suggestions.

The Winners, the Quit Facebook group. Considering how small their numbers were in comparison to the number of people on Facebook, they got the attention of the Big Company. You would think 31,000 out of 450000000 is a very small tempest in a teapot, but still they got Facebook to notice them. As well, they got Facebook to do some dumb things, such as remove all posts that contained links to their group, or anything that would help a person leave Facebook. They got the attention of the Mainstream Media which helped their cause immensely. They got the message of the issue of privacy before people.

The Winners, Facebook. They weathered the storm. The number that left is very small. One article stated almost a million Canadians joined Facebook in the month of May alone. While it did serve as a wake-up call for Facebook not to be so quick and easy with privacy, they must feel good that ultimately, the call to quit was ignored by the vast majority. People didn't seem to want to quit after all.

The Losers: the "Quit Facebook" group. At one time it was reported that approximately 60% of Facebook users planned to quit. If you look at the graph, only 46% were either highly likely or already had quit. If you just consider those numbers, it would mean 207,000,000 were going to pull the plug on their account or had done so. 31,000 is a far cry from that number. So it could be said the quit group suffered from slacktivism. It's a common problem that exists in the day of social networking, people get angry over an issue, they sign up, sign off and promise to get involved. However when the time comes, a very small minority actually get involved. The rest see their involvement begin and end by joining the group.

The Losers: Facebook. There is now a vocal minority that are not impressed with anything Facebook does or will do. They lost some trust and while it meant to almost nothing now, it could easily grow. Chris Crum made this question in his article:

Could Facebook become MySpace? Sure, it could, but it doesn't look like it's going to happen anytime soon. It's going to take more than privacy concerns. It's going to take another service simply being "cooler". For now, Facebook is still "where it's at," and it will continue to be important for the foreseeable future.

Excellent question, could Facebook be the next MySpace? Remember when it was the totally cool place to be? Now, where is it? It still exists but what. Now there are groups interested in toppling Facebook. They want to have an open source social network, where ease and privacy are both the strong points. Right now, its a dream, but what if it comes true.

I think a question has to be asked, how many of those hundreds of millions are active now? How many were influenced to stop using Facebook. Perhaps they won't go through the trouble of deleting and cancelling their account, but they will simply never bother going back to the site. Their account is a dead account and is just nothing more then deadwood.

It's going to be an interesting few years. The real hope is Facebook was sufficiently humbled that it will be more aware of concerns from its stakeholders and not be so quick to abuse us.